Yvr Forest

The aristocrat's burned a path through the dark land, a forest believably darker than those around it. Accordingly, he rode in chasing after a golden fox. From there, his fellow huntsmen say he never was seen it again. Though this is only a local story, the one of a small army disappearing within it's shadow depths is entirely true.

Geography

The forest itself appears largely to be leafy, deciduous. However, upon further inspection, accounts tell of massive leafy green vines, all of which are at least the width of a man, full of a strange sap. The famous slayer, Steel Gary, once quoted to have seen much of this himself in one of his ventures, namely when he chased a green dragon into the wood of Yvr himself that had hid there out of desperation. These massive vines shape the land itself, tunneling in and out of the dirt, making much of the inner forest's dirt very compact and hard to break. Other than this, little water can be found within the forest, no ponds or major streams, only old riverbeds and abnormally large puddles at best. The terrain throughout the forest is reportedly somewhat hill-y, becoming more rough the further in one heads, surprising some unfortunate parties with sudden small pits and seemingly hidden cliffs at some points. Overall, the very geography of this forest is unfriendly to all who cross it.

Fauna & Flora

Flora

The plants of Yvr appear to be the same as many others across the general forests of Dovia, that being leafy green trees during most of the year, accompanied by plenty of grasses, ferns, bushes and the occasional pine tree. However, it is upon entry of the forest that one changes for the sinister. Great vines with an ichor like sap begin to wrap around the trees, growing with them, reinforcing them. It is by these vines, that if traced fully, one can see they are interlinked across the central forest as far as the vines spread. Along with this, across the innermost, these vines, no doubt affected by some sort of magic, combine into a great wooden pillar. It is unknown what this pillar serves purposewise, or why these vines stretch miles across interwoven with the other fauna, or why this forest is so dense. It is suspected the unnatural evils that lurk there feed off or are created by the vines, though what little is known is debated often. However, as all of this is, not all of the plants of this place live on a simple diet, but many are wandering carnivorous plants and across the forest, many people have reportedly died to simple trap plants in remote places.

Natural Creatures

The creatures of Yvr are greatly varied across the primeval forest. Beasts such as great deer and boars find their homes within the wood, all manner of rodents and birds do as well. According to hunters of the region, the Yvr is a true test of mettle to the greatest huntsmen. Like the myth mentioned previously, there is a rare kind of golden fox that lives within this specific forest, though the manner of these creatures are unknown.

Reportedly, a tribe of elven folk live within the forest, known by local legend as the Yvrma. Though no bodies have been found within the forest, and no proper evidence has been either beyond that of eye witness accounts, the forest's dense structure and wide perimeter provides plenty of security to hide people willing to learn it's strengths and play to them accordingly. Contact of this folkloric people has been attempted numerous times to no avail.

Unnatural Creatures

Among the unnatural beings of this forest, the fae plague it the most. Local villages and travelers of the area claim that the creatures of the Realms use the forest not only as a safe place, but a place of operations one could say. That these fae not only live within Yvr but also plan and scheme within it, as abodes and signs of fae gatherings have been spotted and recorded along the outskirts of the forest. Though, despite all of this, there has been no apparent need to launch a slayer campaign to rid the forest of these beings, as no truly dangerous fae, such as semi devils and hags, have been spotted under it's swaying tangled branches. Most fae that reside within here are tmere tricksters, using their abilities to hide from and dispose of those who would wish to harm or play against them, such as unwise slayers or wandering undead.

Going deeper within the forest, closer to the center, the greater chance one is likely to simply never return at all from it. This is largely believed to be from the number of ghouls and spirits that haunt the heart of this cursed place. Because of the sheer amount of undead residing within this dark place, a few slayer and soldier campaigns have been sent to cleanse the forest, all of them ending in failure, or on one occasion, a number of 74 slayers simply never returning from the dark wood. The undead that are spotted here never seem to leave Yvr, as if bound there by arcane means, though the origin of such sophisticated mysticism is unknown as even the earliest settlement records of the region yield no information on tribes or specific native rituals or anything of the nature within the forest, leaving questions to be answered. The undead spotted within here are often nothing more than vines covered skeletons, rotting zombies or wailing spirits.

Natural Resources

General

As stated previously, the plants of this area can often appear dull at first, however, unlike previously, the deeper into the forest one goes, the more likely they are to come across a batch of special herbs. Within the depths of the forest are various plants and roots capable of healing and curing illnesses, strangely sprouting among the corpses of the hibernating undead, in the wake of a fae's steps or out of the body of a recently killed golden fox. Along with this, the forest is ripe for lumber, though due to the nature of the forestz, lumbermen stay far from the forest when it comes to making money. The same could be said of healers with Yvr's healing herbs.

The Unknown Vines

The vines, known locally to native elves as the Tevph'Yvr, but outside that simply as magically affected plants, are full of an amber colored sap capable of trapping one quickly if solidified soon enough. The sap, once tested, reveal that they are in fact contaminated with traces of blood and bone, as well as raw magic and even hints of focused arcana, creating more questions than answers. Who or what blood and bone is this from? Can this magic be harnessed? Where does this focused arcana truly originate from. The sap, according to local elves, can make a person semi immortal, curing them of all their sicknesses and wounds, though this has not been proven. In fact, it appears from various past tests, the sap has more of a detrimental affect, resulting in a fever of many of it's consumers shortly after consumption.

Unnatural Creatures

The fae here are ofcourse, as many fae are, willing to trade, for better or worse. Some fae offer magical prowess through immense personal sacrifices or strange risks that bite back later. Along with this, if a trickster fae within Yvr is killed, it often bears a strange wooden amulet, though the reason for this amulet has never been revealed

These strange undead, as all undead, can be harvested for their raw magical essence and other things, such as loot found from an undead all the way to the items seeked out by historians and noblemen on their bodies. It is by this that undead are sometimes hunted along the outskirts of the forest, as going deeper would be certain doom for an enterprising slayer. Like the fae of this forest, each physical undead such as zombies and skeletons carry on their beings, wooden amulets, similar in structure to the amulets of their fellow guests.

Alternative Name(s)

Yvr Novyji, Yvr, the Shadow of Dovia

Type

Forest, Temperate (Seasonal)